None, But The Human Race

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
10 October 2010


We are God’s people, the sheep of his flock: come, let us worship him, alleluia.

First reading 2 Kings 5:14-17
Naaman the leper went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child.
Returning to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. ‘Now I know’ he said ‘that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, please, accept a present from your servant.’ But Elisha replied, ‘As the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing.’ Naaman pressed him to accept, but he refused. Then Naaman said, ‘Since your answer is “No,” allow your servant to be given as much earth as two mules may carry, because your servant will no longer offer holocaust or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.’

Psalm: Psalm 97:1-4

Second reading 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Remember the Good News that I carry, ‘Jesus Christ risen from the dead, sprung from the race of David’; it is on account of this that I have my own hardships to bear, even to being chained like a criminal – but they cannot chain up God’s news. So I bear it all for the sake of those who are chosen, so that in the end they may have the salvation that is in Christ Jesus and the eternal glory that comes with it.
Here is a saying that you can rely on:
If we have died with him, then we shall live with him.
If we hold firm, then we shall reign with him.
If we disown him, then he will disown us.
We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful,
for he cannot disown his own self.

Gospel Luke 17:11-19
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus travelled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered one of the villages, ten lepers came to meet him. They stood some way off and called to him, ‘Jesus! Master! Take pity on us.’ When he saw them he said, ‘Go and show yourselves to the priests.’ Now as they were going away they were cleansed. Finding himself cured, one of them turned back praising God at the top of his voice and threw himself at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was a Samaritan. This made Jesus say, ‘Were not all ten made clean? The other nine, where are they? It seems that no one has come back to give praise to God, except this foreigner.’ And he said to the man, ‘Stand up and go on your way. Your faith has saved you.’

Reflection
By Fidji Rivera-Sarmiento

How easy it is for us humans to judge and generalize. Just a month ago, a small church pastor from Florida would want to declare September 11 as the International Burn-A-Koran Day. Praise God he called it off, according to a fellow reverend, and was convinced by so many personalities who discouraged him from doing such. Just imagine the chaos that would arise had he pushed through with his plans. Yes, we condemn terrorism. Yes, we condemn the killings. But we could not be harsh as to desecrate somebody else’s holy book. As I also contemplate after the Manila hostage incident, it is very disheartening how some nations generalize all Filipinos to be a wicked, ruthless people as a whole. I realized that it is utterly unfortunate that we as a people are categorized according to religion, race, citizenship, socioeconomic status, even according to skin color. We have been divided ever since by geography, and most especially by differences in beliefs. And these circumstances result to quick and careless judgment among each of us. We often fail to trust in the human heart, stripped of religion labels or nationality. Look at the Samaritan who solely thanked Jesus after being healed. And the other Samaritan, the good (and the more famous) one who solely helped an ailing man on the road. They only represent the realization that not all Christians are Christians. And not all Muslims are Muslims. We are all humans, given with free will to choose what is humane and what is not. As one of my students’ parent said, “There is no race, but the human race.”

Lord,
May we not be quick to judge. May we conquer our tendencies to encase ourselves into labels. May we learn to respect our differences especially in religion, and to know that goodness is universal. In this time and age, may we realize that the only way to peace is to let it begin in our hearts. May we be the spark of hope in this rather divided world. Help us to be good humans who radiate love for all. Amen.

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Pray Unceasingly